Rachel, Lorent, Klezmi, Silva, and a few others in minor roles are mine.
Rated PG : language; sexuality; violence; some mature concepts.
Based on the events of my previous story 'Time Over', and uses a little of the same dialogue.
Please review, it keeps me going.
"I don't know, Alex. It's like now I see it, now I don't. It's strange." Trip looked up at me from his seat in his office at Time Force HQ. Finding no answers in my face, he glanced at Jen, then back at me.
"What does it mean?"
There was frustration on his own face. "I don't know. That's what I'm telling you. It doesn't make any sense."
I frowned. Jen had brought this to my attention. She said all of the temporal scientists were complaining. There were disturbances in the timestream, but not the kind we had experienced before. These seemed to be minor. But the disturbing part was the way they seemed to change or disappear when our scientists tried to analyze them. Even Dagmar was stumped.
Jen and I exchanged a glance. I nodded. "Come on," I said. "Let's see Logan."
We headed down the corridor together, not talking. Things had been a little strained between us since we had returned from 2003 two months before. We both had reason to feel guilty, and Jen still thought I was angry. To my own surprise, I wasn't. To tell the truth, I wasn't sure of what I felt, only that I was relieved to have it over at last. I was starting to think I should have given up on winning her back a long time ago, that in fact it had been more about winning than about love.
I had even told her about Rachel, only a few days ago. She had taken it well, better than I had expected, listening calmly, eyes downturned as I told her.
"It was just one night. And only because we thought it was the end of everything. But it was still a mistake."
"Was it?" She looked up at me, eyes bright. "With the way things turned out, maybe not. You should have kept seeing her."
"No. I had no way of knowing then about you and Wes. I had no business being with Rachel."
"And you got so angry at me for being unfaithful..." I couldn't quite tell if she was teasing or genuinely annoyed.
"Well... that was different. Or I thought so at the time."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
I shrugged uncomfortably. "Probably should have. Guess I was ashamed. Didn't know how you'd react."
"You and Rachel. I always thought she liked you." She gave me a sidelong glance. "I was even a little jealous... Are you going to ask her out now?"
"I don't know... not sure how I feel. And I haven't given her much reason to want to go out with me."
Jen had smiled at that. "Not giving up, are you? Give it a try, you might be surprised..."
My thoughts returned to the present and our immediate problem as we entered Logan's office and sat down. I handed him the reports I brought with us on the timestream anomalies, saying, "Captain Logan, we'd like you to take a look at this."
"Strange. What do you make of it?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, at this point. Something's going on. It needs more investigation."
"Theories?"
Jen answered him. "I've never seen anything like this before. We can measure the disruptions -- but then the computer analysis shows nothing, or contradictory results. I'm starting to think something's wrong in our computer systems."
Logan looked both alarmed and thoughtful. "The computer systems are self-correcting. It should be impossible for them to go wrong, at least without the diagnostics notifying the operators."
"Theoretically, yes. But..."
I backed her up. "Jen could be right. I think it's worth looking into."
"All right. Talk to the computer operations team. Ask them to check it out."
"Yes, sir."
In the hallway, we turned to each other. Jen should be the one to handle this, and she might be more comfortable working with someone else. There was someone I wanted to see anyway. "Why don't you take Lucas and check it out?" I said.
"All right." She started to turn away, and then turned back with a smile. "Thanks for your help, Alex."
"Anytime." I watched her walk down the hall, before turning away.
I watched Rachel for a while, bent over her workbench, concentrating on her instruments. Just like Jen, something said inside me. But she wasn't, not really. She had the same dedication and determination I had loved in Jen, but she also had a softer quality, something more vulnerable.
'Had loved?' I wondered. The thought had come so naturally. I still loved Jen, didn't I? But the old longing was blunted now. I still loved her, but not in the same way. It was over, truly over, and I was ready to move on. The realization came suddenly, like a revelation, as I looked at Rachel.
Perhaps I made some sound, or movement. She looked up and saw me, and smiled. I walked in and found a chair to sit on, and smiled back.
"Alex. How are you?"
"Fine. And you?"
"Good."
"Have you heard about what the other scientists are saying about the timestream monitoring? That something's wrong?"
"Of course. I've seen it too. Discrepancies, signs of disruption, but they seem to disappear when we try to analyze them."
"That's what Trip said. Jen thinks it's the computer systems."
She frowned. "That makes sense... If it's true, it has to be corrected right away."
"Jen's working on it."
Another frown, and a sharp look. "You know, the diagnostics should pick up any problem in the computers. If they didn't -- or if the technicians didn't act on it -- we have a real problem."
"You're right." Casting about for something more to say, I asked the obvious. "What are you working on?"
"The new flyers. Modifying them so you can call them with the morphers, like the TF Eagle."
"Sounds good. I kind of envied Eric his flyer."
"What's he like? Eric? I've heard so much about him, of course."
I shrugged and smiled again. "I can't say I really got to know him. He's not really outgoing. But while I was there, he went out of his way to be nice."
"And Wes? If you don't mind talking about him."
"I don't mind. He's actually a pretty nice guy. I didn't spend much time with him." I paused. "He was with Jen most of the time."
She turned her face back to her work. "She was... with him?"
"Yes." I leaned forward. "It's really over between us. For good."
"I won't pretend I'm sorry to hear it." She was still looking at her bench, away from me.
I fidgeted for a moment and then got it out. "Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"
Her sharp eyes were on me again. "I… I don't know."
"You don't know? What does that mean?"
"Alex, I'll be honest. I like you. Very much."
I smiled. "That's good, isn't it? I like you, too."
"But frankly -- I don't want to get involved with you. Not yet."
"Why?" But I suspected the answer.
"You say you're over Jen. But how do I know it's true?" When I started to speak she held up a hand to stop me. "I know, you think it's over. But you were in love with her for years. She's still alone, now. What if she changes her mind, and wants you back?"
"I don't think she will."
"What if you change your mind? Right now you're still hurt, and lonely." She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said to you before. That was mean. But I still don't think it would be a good idea. Not as long as you're on the rebound."
"Rachel, I know… I can feel it…"
"Maybe. Give it some time."
"Time. Jen used to say the same thing." Frustration stirred me, bringing me to my feet.
Rachel stood up, too, and came closer, staring into my face, reading my expression. I was surprised at her intensity. "You've waited a long time for Jen. Don't you think I'm worth waiting for, too?"
"Well, of course. But -- can't we at least see each other? I mean outside of work?"
"Just as friends?"
"Oh, God." She smiled as I sighed. "All right. Friends. But…"
"But what?"
"But I can hope for more, can't I?" I smiled and raised a hand to caress her cheek, leaning closer. "Like just a kiss now and then..."
Her eyes held mine as we came together, then closed as we kissed. It was gentle at first, hesitant, I touched her lips and then backed off, but a moment later I had her in my arms, and the kiss was passionate. The intensity of my desire and her response startled me, and I let her go and stepped back. She blinked at me, looking dazed.
"I can wait," I said, not too steadily. "But... I hope it won't be for long."
"Alex… I…"
"Alex?"
Jen's voice came from my morpher, confusing me for a moment. With an apologetic look at Rachel, I raised it and answered. "Yes, Jen."
"I'm in Trip's office. You'd better get over here." Her voice was urgent.
"Rachel..."
"Go on. I'll still be here when you get back."
I got over there. The whole team was waiting, Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie. Jen started talking the moment I was through the door.
"We went to the computer department. Took a little while to get any cooperation. Then we spoke to the tech in charge of the temporal analysis systems. His name is Klezmi. He checked out all his systems right in front of us, found nothing. Lucas and I still thought something was wrong, so we came here and asked Trip to take a look."
Trip took over. "The programs have been altered, so they won't show the effects of timestream disruption. All the alerts have been disabled. The correct information is still being produced, but it's only being sent to one user."
"Klezmi," Jen said grimly.
"Right. He's the only one who knew the real situation. Until now."
"And what is the real situation?" I asked.
Trip turned back to his screen. "Events have been put in motion which will make a major alteration of history. The target is 2003 again, and Bio-Lab." He glanced at Jen. "I've found indications of another attack by mutants. There's one description. It sounds like Conwing."
Conwing, one of Ransik's mutant confederates. And I remembered something that had been in one of my recent daily briefings. "Conwing and Steelix escaped from custody a few weeks ago. With help from the outside."
"From the evidence here…" Trip took a deep breath. "In the new timeline, Wes, Eric, and Mr. Collins were all murdered. Bio-Lab merged with another company, which took over management. Years later, the Silver Guardians became Time Force, just like in our reality, but they're different… Our instruments can pick up some of it, and I can sense more... I see mutants forced to live in camps, and signs of war, and discrimination, and Time Force taking over the government. And I see Klezmi, he's in control. That's why he's done this, somehow he knows how to put himself in power in the new timeline."
"But the effects of changes in history are unpredictable -- just look what happened when Ransik tried it. How can Klezmi know how reality will change?"
Trip shrugged, his eyes wide. "I don't know."
"How long do we have?"
"A few hours, maybe. It's almost too late."
"Can you restore the correct programming?"
"I already have. Just have to activate it."
"Do it. We have to see Captain Logan, and take off for 2003 immediately."
Trip stopped short as we reached the door and turned back to Jen and Lucas. "What does Klezmi look like?" he asked.
"What? He's tall, big, dark hair…" Jen said. "Why?"
"The Mystery Mutant. The man we fought in that office building." Trip's voice was low, but utterly confident. As we all stared, he started out again.
With the temporal analysis programming restored to normal, alarms were suddenly going off all over Time Force. As we raced down the corridors towards Logan's office, scientists and officers began to run out of labs and offices, panic on their faces. I saw Logan himself charge out of his door just before we reached it. He caught sight of us.
"You know the situation?" he asked.
"Yes. We're ready to go."
"Your ship's being prepared. Hurry! Stop them before it's too late!"
"Let's go!" I shouted.
We ran, pelting out of the main office building, dashing across a small park, into the hangar building where our ship was waiting. We saw it, a swarm of maintenance personnel still preparing it for takeoff. They finished disconnecting their equipment a moment after we arrived and withdrew to a safe distance.
We got inside and took our seats, Lucas piloting, of course, Trip, Katie, and myself behind him, Jen in the back at the weapons control seat. Lucas powered up the ship, his hands moving swiftly and expertly over the controls. As the flyer hummed to life he glanced over his shoulder.
"Ready? Here we go!"
He engaged the engine. There was a flash, a roar, heat and impact. I don't remember everything. The world seemed to explode into fire and pain. I heard screaming, from all of us, and Jen -- I could hear her voice, filled with agony, the voice of someone dying.
There was blankness until I opened my eyes again, and looked up at the hangar roof. I was lying on the floor, there were people running around me, shouts filling the air. As I raised my head and tried to sit up, I saw the flyer a few meters away, a mass of flaming wreckage. I remember wondering how we could have gotten out of that alive.
Then it occurred to me to wonder if all of us had gotten out. I looked around, seeing Lucas, Katie, and Trip laid out near me. Lucas was moaning, a hand to his head, Katie was sitting up, looking as dazed as I felt. Trip appeared to be unconscious, or dead. There was no sign of Jen.
All I knew was that I had to find her. I actually made it to my feet, and staggered a few steps toward the flyer. Hands closed on my arms, pulling me back. I tried to struggle, but I was weak, and then the pain started, and everything went blank again.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was in the Time Force infirmary. I could still feel pain, but it was muted and indistinct. In the strange calmness enforced by the painkillers they had given me, I stared up at the ceiling, feeling only mildly curious about why I was there. After a few seconds it started to come back. The mission. The explosion. My eyes moved around until they found a face, a woman's face, shadowed.
"Jen?" I asked. It came out as only a slurred mumble.
"Alex? It's Rachel." She bent over me, smiling, but her eyes were red and puffy.
"What…"
"You were in an explosion. Someone planted a bomb in your timeship. You were burned and have some injuries from the concussion, but you'll be fine."
"Jen…"
Her brows contracted, her lips trembling. "Lucas, Katie, and Trip are all right, Alex. I'm sorry, but Jen didn't make it."
"Didn't make it…" I didn't feel much, thanks to the drugs, at least not consciously. But I felt the tears sting as they trickled over burned skin, until I closed my eyes and retreated into sleep.
I stirred, half-conscious, and heard myself cry out in some forgotten dream. Waking, I saw movement, and looked up into Rachel's face, bending over me. She looked tired and worn, as if she had just been awakened. She must have been sleeping in her chair, watching over me. Just as she had always been there when I needed her.
"Rachel." My voice was stronger than I expected. "Where's Logan? And the others?"
She blinked at me. "Logan's at home, I suppose. Lucas, Trip, and Katie are here in the infirmary, recovering."
"Jen's dead, isn't she?"
She laid a soft hand on mine. "Yes. She was closer to the explosive. She must have died almost instantly. We... haven't even found a body."
I felt tears sting again, saw them blur my vision, and tried to push the grief away. "I have to see Logan."
She frowned. "You'll be better soon. We're using an accelerated healing treatment on all of you. You can talk to Logan when you're up to it."
I closed my eyes. Accelerated healing would get us back on our feet quickly, but that was why I felt so sleepy, it knocked us out for days while our bodies repaired themselves, that was how it worked… We didn't have days, we needed to go… "We have to go back…" I mumbled as sleep began to drift back over my mind. "Back to 2003…"
"Alex, we can't. Your ship was destroyed. Our other ships have been sabotaged. We don't have any working timeships now."
That kept me awake for another few seconds. "What can we do?"
"Nothing."
"But… Klezmi… he sent them back there. Conwing. They're going to change history… Wes and Eric…"
"I know, Alex."
"It's happening again, isn't it? End of the world…"
Her voice came softly as my eyes closed, only a faint tremor of fear in it. "Just sleep. It'll be all right."
I was hazy with sleep. "End of the world... and we're together again... Rachel..."
"Yes. I'm here. It's all right."
Her voice almost took away the fear. I slept. And the world ended again.
TBC...